Princess Catherine `follows Diana in secret charity visits`

London: Prince William`s wife Kate Middleton seems to be following in the footsteps of late Princess Diana -- the Duchess of Cambridge is making secret private visits to charities, St James`s Palace has said.

The 29-year-old Duchess is using the next few months to choose which causes she wants to support as a royal patron.

In fact, Kate has begun paying personal "under the radar" trips to organisations in recent days and plans to get to know a variety of good causes before making her decision in the new year, `The Sunday Telegraph` reported.

"The Duchess is using the next few months to get to know a number of charitable and other causes better, so she can make well-informed decisions about her future role. The Duchess plans to meet a wide range of people and make private visits.

"We are not giving a running commentary of the causes the Duchess is looking at. Her interests remain broad at the moment," a St James`s Palace spokesman was quoted by the British newspaper as saying.

Diana, Princess of Wales, regularly made secret visits to homeless centres, sometimes accompanied by her sons. She also used to spend time helping organisations including children`s and cancer charities, as well as supporting HIV victims around the world, and victims of landmines.

A palace source said Prince William, the 29-year-old Duke of Cambridge, was also giving his wife his "full support", but the Duchess was researching independently.

The source added that the couple were "enjoying their time together at their home in north Wales", while the Duke continues his work as a search and rescue helicopter pilot.